FBI: Domestic Terror Attack Thwarted in Minnesota

By
WISE Web Admin

FBI: Domestic Terror Attack Thwarted in Minnesota

May 6, 2013Updated May 6, 2013 at 3:34 PM EDT

MINNESOTA (www.abcnews.com) -- Authorities thwarted what could have been a deadly domestic terror attack last week when they raided the home of a militia-linked Minnesota man, law enforcement sources told ABC News today.

Buford "Bucky" Rogers, 24, was arrested Friday after an army of federal, state and local officials raided his home and discovered a cache of weapons including a Romanian AK-M assault-style rifle, several Molotov cocktails and what investigators suspect to be pipe-bombs, court documents said.

Jeanne Cooney, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minneapolis, told ABC News this morning that authorities rushed to arrest Rogers to get him off the street before he could proceed with his plans for an attack.

"We just wanted to get enough to get an arrest warrant to put him away before the weekend," Cooney said. According to a statement from the FBI, the bureau believes the arrest potentially saved the lives of "several local residents."

Cooney declined to say what the target of the attack was, but Montevideo, Minn. Police Chief Adam Christopher told ABC News Rogers had started a group called the Black Snake Militia, an organization with anti-government tendencies. Two senior law enforcement sources told ABC News Rogers appears to be a "militia"-type suspect whose targets potentially included local authorities.

Law enforcement was tipped off to Rogers thanks to "concerned residents in the area," Cooney said.

Rogers was convicted of felony burglary in 2011 and was restricted from possessing a firearm, authorities said. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless use of a weapon in 2009, court documents show. Rogers was taken into custody Friday without incident.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office said Rogers does not yet have an attorney. He is expected to make his first court appearance today.

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